But the creature didn’t wait. As its right jaw burrowed into the ground, its tail, or legs, perhaps, launched a snake’s head forward.
Hadjar tried to block the attack with a swing of his sword, but the serpent twisted in midair, coiling around the General’s blade. Using its opponent’s own sword for support, the creature coiled up and then lunged forward, its predatory maw opening wide.
Realizing that he couldn’t free himself in time, Hadjar made the best decision he could think of. He pushed off the loose ground and jumped behind the tree he’d been leaning against. Since the tree trunks here were several yards in diameter, the creature would surely break itself against this one while attacking him...
In that same, absolute silence, where not even the sound of his own heartbeat could be
